{"value":{"id":1733713,"memberId":4264,"member":null,"memberRole":"Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories","uin":"HCWS128","dateMade":"2024-10-14T00:00:00","answeringBodyId":208,"answeringBodyName":"Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office","title":"South Atlantic Cooperation","text":"<p>On 24 September, the Foreign Secretary met Diana Mondino, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic, in New York.</p><p>Following this meeting, the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister Mondino were delighted to announce a package of cooperation in the South Atlantic, which was published on the Gov.UK website.</p><p>The package of cooperation includes the following commitments:</p><ul><li>To resume cooperation on fisheries where fishing stocks are shared between Argentina and the Falkland Islands;</li><li>To develop a more ambitious agenda for cooperation, under the sovereignty formula, aimed at promoting human and economic development and strengthening links between the Islands and the continent</li><li>To resume negotiations to complete the third phase of the Humanitarian Project Plan to identify unidentified Argentine soldiers killed in 1982;</li><li>To organise a trip to the Islands by next-of-kin of fallen soldiers before the end of 2024, so that they can visit the graves of the soldiers laid to rest in the Falkland Islands;</li><li>To resume the weekly São Paulo – Falkland Islands flight that stopped once a month in Córdoba, Argentina, as established in 2019.</li></ul><p>It was agreed that the formula on the safeguards of sovereignty, in paragraph 2 of the Joint Statement between the UK and Argentina of 19 October 1989, applies to this agenda and to its outcomes.</p><p>The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly was consulted throughout the negotiations and has issued a statement welcoming this package of cooperation.</p><p>It has no impact on the UK Government’s commitment to defending our sovereignty in the South Atlantic, or on defending the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination.</p><p>The United Kingdom and Argentina will celebrate the bicentenary of diplomatic relations in 2025, and the United Kingdom looks forward to a new era of constructive cooperation, characterised by improved dialogue and confidence-building measures.</p>","house":"Commons","noticeNumber":4,"hasAttachments":false,"hasLinkedStatements":true,"linkedStatements":[{"linkedStatementId":1733715,"linkType":"JointStatement","linkDate":"2024-10-14T00:00:00"}],"attachments":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Statements/1733713","method":"GET"}]}